Yup. There’s no stopping Steamboat Willie. Everyone and their mother is going to ride the public domain Mickey Mouse train to their 15 minutes of fame.
Just a day after we covered Steamboat Willie‘s appearance in an upcoming early access game and a horror movie called Mickey’s Mouse Trap, another production company is putting the Disney icon in my once beloved genre. This time, it’s from the company behind The Mean One … a Grinch-themed slasher.
The news about yet another public domain Mickey horror movie comes to us from Bloody Disgusting. Hey, I’ve written for them in the past.
The Mean One‘s Steven LaMorte will direct Steamboat Willie (no points for creativity there). Apparently, making a horror flick based on one of Mickey Mouse’s earliest on-screen appearances has been a longtime goal for LaMorte.
In a press release quoted by Variety, the director had this to say:
“Steamboat Willie has brought joy to generations, but beneath that cheerful exterior lies a potential for pure, unhinged terror. It’s a project I’ve been dreaming of, and I can’t wait to unleash this twisted take on this beloved character to the world.“
Variety also quotes Steven LaMorte in an interview, although we’re unsure if this was directly related to Steamboat Willie, or using iconic children’s characters as a whole:
“Filmmakers — we’re all kids in the sandbox. We love taking them and playing with them in different ways. It’s not a desire to ruin these characters or make a quick buck, but to love them and honor them and show them in a new light.“
I get it. Turning once family-friendly things into nightmare fuel is a staple of the horror genre. However, throwing a guy in a latex mask, and drowning the actor in dim lighting isn’t going to enhance things.
Then again, being more ambitious would take a larger budget and by the time that kind of production wraps, the novelty of a Mickey Massacre would probably wear off.
[Source: Bloody Disgusting]
[Source: Variety]
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